North Philadelphia’s Bright Hope Baptist Church hosted a health event Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Day that offered free flu shots as well as help signing up for Obamacare. Patricia Coulter rolled up her sleeve for her flu shot provided by Walgreen’s, but the President and CEO of the Urban League of Philadelphia also had her eye on sign-ups for Obamacare elsewhere in the room: “When people are healthy, they are energized,” she tells KYW Newsradio.

“They can work. They can provide for their families. You can’t separate health and well-being from economic and jobs and businesses.” Levana Layendecker from Equality, Pennsylvania: “Health insurance companies would often discriminate against LGBT people, charging more, basically treating being a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender person as a pre-existing condition and that is no longer allowed.”

When President Barack Obama’s campaign machine restructured itself as a politically active nonprofit in 2013, one goal was to keep attracting the legions of small-dollar donors who had twice helped catapult Obama into the White House. Now the numbers are in for 2013, and they show that Organizing for Action, as the pro-Obama nonprofit is known, has been wildly successful. During its first year, Organizing for Action raised $26.3 million, with 57 percent of that sum coming from people who gave less than $250, according to the Center for Public Integrity’s analysis of records released by the group.

Donors who gave between $250 and $1,000 accounted for another 14 percent of the total. Katie Hogan, an Organizing for Action spokeswoman, said the group was “proud” of its support from more than 421,000 grassroots donors who have helped the nonprofit work to “tip the scales back towards the American people and away from special interests in Washington.” During its inaugural year, the group advocated for Obama’s signature health care reform law, for action to curb climate change and for gun safety legislation. It has not contributed to candidates’ political campaigns or run advertisements boosting or opposing specific politicians. Obama’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 broke records for the enormous sums they collected from individual donors who gave small-dollar amounts.

Washington Post: Democrats Win State Senate Seat In Northern Virginia – And Perhaps Control Of The Chamber

Democrats remained on course to take control of the Virginia Senate after winning a key special election Tuesday, as thousands of Northern Virginia voters braved snow and bitter winds to cast ballots in an unusual, three-way contest. In the race to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D), Democrat Jennifer Wexton prevailed over Republican John Whitbeck and independent Joe T. May, a former Republican delegate running as an independent, according to unofficial election results. The district encompasses a slice of Fairfax County and a hefty portion of eastern Loudoun County, a region that has leaned toward Democrats in recent elections but remains battleground territory.

With the Virginia Senate previously split 20-20, Democrats must hold the two seats vacated by Herring and Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam (D) so they don’t lose control to Republicans. If the chamber remains evenly divided, Northam would act as a tie-breaking vote, giving Democrats control of the chamber. The race to replace Northam in his former Senate district, which is based in Norfolk and also leans Democratic, remains undecided. Del. Lynwood W. Lewis (D-Accomack) was certified the winner of a special election by just nine votes, prompting Republican Wayne Coleman on Thursday to request a recount.

The Independent: Pope Francis Tells Davos Business Leaders: ‘Ensure Humanity Is Served By Wealth, Not Ruled By It’

Pope Francis has challenged the world’s business leaders to put their wealth to good use in serving humanity, and to oversee the “better distribution of wealth”. In a message addressing more than 2,500 participants at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland yesterday, he said more must be done to promote the “growth of equality” alongside an economic recovery.

The Pope’s comments came as a report released by Oxfam found that the 85 richest people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest half of the entire international population, around 3.5 billion people. “I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it,” Pope Francis said in the message read at the opening ceremony by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice.

“The growth of equality demands something more than economic growth, even though it presupposes it. It demands first of all ‘a transcendent vision of the person’,” he said in the message. “It also calls for decisions, mechanisms and processes directed to a better distribution of wealth, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.”

The drinking water in nine West Virginia counties has finally been declared safe, or mostly safe. But many people say they can still smell the licorice-like odor of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol — in the sink, in the shower, in the air, especially in neighborhoods close to the Elk River. I say “mostly” because so little is known about the toxicity of the chemical, known as MCHM, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised pregnant women in the affected area not to drink the water, at least for now. Unfortunately, this warning came after the CDC had already told residents the water was safe for everyone.

More than a week since the chemical spill in Charleston, the state capital, contaminated the water supply for 300,000 people, there has been little solid information about the danger to human health — and little outrage from officials in Washington, who seem to expect West Virginians to take the whole thing in stride. I can’t help but wonder what the reaction would be if this had happened on the Upper East Side of Manhattan or in one of the wealthier Zip codes of Southern California. Imagine living for a week without tap water for drinking, cooking, bathing, even washing clothes. Imagine restaurants having to shut down, hotels putting sinks and showers off-limits, nursing homes trying to care for patients with only bottled water at their disposal. Imagine learning that there was essentially no information on the long-term health effects of a chemical you could smell everywhere you went.

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond area businessman who sought special treatment from state government. Authorities allege that for nearly two years, the McDonnells repeatedly asked executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. for loans and gifts of money, clothes, golf fees and equipment, trips, and private plane rides. The gifts and loans totaled at least $165,000.

In exchange, authorities allege, the McDonnells worked in concert to lend the prestige of the governor’s office to Williams’s struggling company, Star Scientific, a former small cigarette manufacturer that now sells dietary supplements. McDonnell, 59, is the first governor ever to face criminal charges in Virginia, a state that has prided itself on a history of clean and ethical politics, and the charges will probably accelerate a push for the legislature to tighten state ethics laws. The criminal prosecution marks a stunning crash for a politician who was considered for the Republican vice presidential nomination in 2012 and who, just a year ago, was considered a credible prospective candidate for president.

However, there is one crucial piece of ObamaCare that may well become a big winner for Democrats by the end of the year: The dramatic expansion of Medicaid. Unlike the overall law, the expansion of Medicaid is actually quite popular with voters of all political stripes. Even in the Deep South, more than six in ten support expanding Medicaid, according to one survey last year; conservatives split almost evenly on the issue. This presents the GOP with two interconnected problems.

First, it undermines part of the party’s “repeal” crusade, since nixing ObamaCare would mean ending a popular policy that has already extended benefits to millions of Americans, many of them previously uninsured. In red West Virginia, some 75,000 people have already enrolled in Medicaid, far higher than expected, according to The New York Times. As a result, the number of uninsured people in the state has plummeted by about a third. That’s a perfect 2014 Democratic ad campaign right there: People are happy now that they’re covered by Medicaid, and Republicans want to take it away.

Without the scandal-engulfed New Jersey governor, Republicans don’t have a candidate who could even come close to the votes needed to win the presidency in 2016. I trust you’re enjoying the Christie panic among Republican establishment types as much as I am. That New York Times story on Sunday, with big boosters like Home Depot’s Kenneth Langone fretting publicly that he really must surround himself with better people (so it’s their fault!), combined with the cable damage-control efforts by the likes of Rudy Giuliani, really shows the extent to which the party big shots have been counting on Christie to save them.

The fact that the GOP establishment needs to come face-to-face with is that they have no one to blame for this but themselves. They’ve reached the point where they almost have to have a Northeasterner like Christie to run for president, just as they had to settle for Romney last time. They’ve let their party go so far off the deep end that practically no Republican officeholder from any other region of the country could appeal to enough moderates in enough purple and blue states to win back the territory the party ceded to the Democrats in the last two elections. Remember: the Republicans come into the next presidential election with 206 reliable electoral votes from states their nominees have won at least four of the last six elections. The Democrats’ corresponding number is 257 (just 13 shy of the victory threshold).

In his long interview with David Remnick in the latest issue of The New Yorker, President Obama gave a few thoughts on the dynamics behind his job approval rating. For anyone who studies public opinion, and the intersection of politics and race, they were banal: “There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black President,” Obama said. “Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I’m a black President.”

Naturally, this led to an explosion of sputtering outrage from the right-wing, which was shocked that Obama would even mention race, much less in the context of his approval rating. This isn’t a coincidence. What political scientists call “racial resentment”—the intersection of anti-black sentiments and traditional American views on hard work and individualism—is one of the most reliable predicators of partisan affiliation. And according to a 2010 paper by political scientists Michael Tesler and David Sears, voters high on the racial resentment scale became more partisan in their attachment to the Republican Party.

Indeed, according to another paper from researchers at the University of Michigan, Stanford, and the University of Chicago, there’s been a marked increase in the number of voters with explicit anti-black attitudes in the last five years, which rose from 47.6 percent in 2008 to 50.9 percent in 2012. What’s more, anti-black attitudes are heavily distributed on the right side of the political divide, though they exist among Democrats and independents as well.

Covered California™ and the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced today that 500,108 Californians enrolled for health insurance and selected plans through the end of 2013 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while 584,000 applicants were determined likely eligible for Medi-Cal coverage. DHCS also transitioned 630,000 individuals into the Medi-Cal program from the state’s Low Income Health Program. The statistics, reflecting enrollment activity from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2013, show that the demand for health care coverage in California remains strong. And the preliminary total of enrollments in Covered California health insurance plans from Oct. 1, 2013, through Jan. 15, 2014, has increased to more than 625,000, demonstrating continued vigor in the new insurance marketplace.

“We’re encouraged by the outpouring of interest and participation in the state insurance exchange,” said Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee. “While our objective is to insure all eligible Californians over time, independent estimates for Covered California’s subsidy-eligible enrollment by the March 31 deadline range between 487,000 and 696,000. These impressive numbers for the first half of open enrollment and the continued momentum in January tell us we are on track to meeting, if not beating, those enrollment estimates as we continue to pick up steam.” Lee noted that of those enrolled so far, 424,936 are eligible for subsidies. “We are pleased that Californians — many for the first time — are getting quality, affordable health insurance to protect themselves and their families,” Lee added.

Do you want me to drool on your tweet too? Ok, that was a very good tweet amk. Sorry I didn’t mention that in my first response. I will not do that again and if I do I will pay you a million bucks, that would be a million antelope bucks.😉

I love my iPad. I like the laptop too, but I don’t understand all the finer points. I need to keep working at it but at least it works and I haven’t had time to ruin it. You should really get the Retina display if you can. My iPad Air is as light as a feather. They are fast too. At least faster than what I had.

Are you going from Windows to Mac? The Windows I have is Vista and I’ve always hated it. I didn’t use it that much so I’m not having a hard time getting used to the differences in the Mac. If you are really used to using Windows you might find it much different. I haven’t gotten into the programs yet. I like Safari so I’m sticking with that. I’d never had a laptop or new anyone who did so I didn’t even know what a trackpad was called. Once I got over that I started doing much better.😉 If only I’d seen the tiny little instruction book I might have fared better. I felt very, very, very stupid for a couple weeks. Very wimminish.😉 I think I will like it even better once I can customize some of the settings. I also got the one TB Apple hard drive. I was hoping they would give me a discount if I bought everything through Apple, but the tight wads wouldn’t. They also tied up several thousand dollars in my bank account for a week so I am glad I’m so rich I had no worries. Ha! Ha! During Christmas no less.
I don’t find it very comfortable to type on my laptop on my lap. What do you use to put it on? My cousin uses her lap. I’ve been using a TV tray. Hubby still likes the Windows PC so the desk isn’t free yet. We still need to hook up the new printer to all my devices now.
See you around.

Ooooooh Nerdy, this is FANTASTIC – I spent the morning clearing Danny’s poo from the garden (how can a small thing poo sooooo much), so haven’t read a thing, so I’m going to catch up beeeeeeautifully with this. Thank you legend!

Amid growing questions about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge and Sandy aid to Hoboken, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is facing an additional charge about his administration’s disbursement of relief aid. State data, obtained from the Christie administration through a lawsuit by the Fair Share Housing Center, reveal a dramatic racial gap in who received preliminary approval for funds from Sandy relief programs. According to the data, decried by groups including the New Jersey NAACP, the Latino Action Network and the New York Times editorial board, the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation Program rejected 35.1 percent of African-American applicants, 18.1 percent of Latino applicants, and only 13.6 percent of Caucasian applicants. The Resettlement Program rejected 38.1 percent of African-Americans, 20.4 percent of Latinos and 13.6 percent of Caucasians.

Speaking to Salon late last week, FSHC staff attorney Adam Gordon urged the federal government to expand its investigation to include the racially disparate aid distribution, accused the Christie administration of trying to change the topic by attacking his organization, and charged “neglect and callous indifference in the needs of Latino and African-American communities impacted by Sandy.” A condensed version of our conversation follows. Your assessment of this data shows that African-Americans were more than twice as likely as whites to get rejected by the RREM program and by the Resettlement program. What explains that disparity? We’re still trying to figure that out. And really, we’re talking to a lot of people who have been in that situation who are African-American and Latino and, you know, a lot of people feel like they’ve been rejected for no reason. You know, we’ve talked to people who live in mold-infested houses [with] serious damage, and got a rejection letter — and they can’t figure it out. So we’re still trying to figure it out.

It’s not just democrats, it’s American’s in general. Many people don’t vote during off year elections especially special elections. The only way it will improve is through organizing and voter outreach.

I don’t think it’s a matter of understanding. For many Dems it’s a matter of can’t be bothered. We will see if the base has learned their lesson this November. Past performance says no but again we will see.

AMK, they need to vote every year. Off year local elections are important for building a bench of experienced, qualified people. We too often get the dregs to run our municipalities because Dem voters sat on their rears and stayed home.

Great R&S UT. I love it when the ACA numbers are posted.
Every day is a good day now as the rising numbers of Obamacare enrollments signifying a better life for our country get posted.
It would be nice if the Media was celebrating with us, but no matter. Actual people benefiting from great change wins over commentary everytime.

In todays’ news in The War in NY….front page story in the NYTimes about the DeBlasio/Cuomo rift.
It is dishonest at its core when it excuses Cuomo by saying he has to work with a GOP Senate. NO!! Andrew Cuomo took the duly elected democratic senate and handed it over to the GOP when he encouraged 4 “breakaway” democrats to caucus with the GOP. These traitors call themselves The Independent Democratic something or other and because of them Mitch McConells equivalent leads the Senate rather than Harry Reid. (What if 4 DINO dems in the US Senate did that?!!!)

To be clear here: Andrew Cuomo is following the identical playbook Chris Christie has been using in NJ. Call yourself bi-partisan. Run up the numbers in your re-election. Set cutting taxes for the rich and powerful as your #1 priority. Encourage privatizing schools. The party Cuomo and Christie are representing is the rich against the rest of us. Real estate developers and banks.

The calculation is that 2016 will be won by the candidate that promises to stop the gridlock that Cuomo and Christies Masters have created.

These 1% guys are the answer, they tell us. I think they are the problem.

Mayor deBlasio is holding fast to his vision. Yes, we all want Universal pre-k but we also want a tax hike on folks earning $500,000 or more each year. DeBlasio says that pre-k without raising taxes is half a loaf and so far he is holding to that position.

Stay tuned to this space. I will update this struggle with news you won’t see anyplace else as long as anyone is interested.

Thank you, Vicki. I’m sorry Cuomo is turning out to be such a jerk. By opposing DeBlasio so blatantly, he is turning off NYC, the source of most of the Democratic votes in the state. In my personal opinion, he has an off-putting presence and appearance and I can’t see him having widespread appeal. He’s not someone people would trust or love, and it takes that for people to work their hearts out and stand in line for hours to vote.

OT: My Nickelby could use some TOD healing energy. He’s hurt the disk in his back again pretty bad. We were not as diligent as we need to be, keeping him completely quiet and absolutely no running, jumping or stairs. The relapse was dramatic. Mr. 57 is afraid to pick him up to go outside, so I’m going to try to shave hours off work and do some work at home because Mommy is just a better nurse.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than hearing your dog cry in pain and seeing that pain in his body, his eyes. He’ll be fine, if we can keep him quiet, but to do it right we’re looking at at least a month. If the disk ruptures it could mean surgery or paralysis.

They were five gallon buckets! The news even showed me hauling them into the house to flush our toilet.😉 Then we had to rent a
porta-potty. The Corp. managed to divide and conquer. But everyone who worked for that Corporation that tried to get us to leave got fired. Tee hee.

We had our well and sewer system taken over by a coal company and they wouldn’t let us access it anymore. We were without water for a month before we got our well dug and about two weeks before we got our septic system dug. I was replying how miserable it was to be without water for the people in WV. There is a much longer story but it’s almost book size.😀

Not entirely sure, probably about 7 or 8. We adopted him as an adult 4.5 years ago. The shelter rescued him from a kill shelter. He was about 3, maybe 4 at the time. He’s a cairn terrier/silky terrier mix. He’s the greatest guy. he should never be picked up ‘lengthwise’ but Mr. 57 forgets and that’s aggravated the old problem. The hardest time is when he’s feeling better and wants to run, jump and bound up the stairs. He just needs us to be ‘strong’.

Those little dolls who are rescued from kill shelters seem to always know how to love extra! The one we have now was rescued from a kill shelter. She was put there by the breeder because she wasn’t perfect. She is perfect, as I know your little Nickleby is. Thinking of you so much. We have gone through these times with our fur babies, and seeing them suffer is absolutely awful.

We rescued the dog before our present one and were told by the rescue that she was five. When we got her, we kind of doubted that, and when we took her to our vets for her check in, they said she was at least eight. She had also had a number of litters, and was suffering all the ailments from not being properly taken care of. We didn’t care. We loved her and took care of her for three years, until all her ailments overtook her. She was sweet through all the suffering. After a year or so of taking care of her, our vet told us he thought she had probably been used for breeding in a puppy mill. That just made me angry that people would use such a precious ,innocent, sweet, beautiful dog for selfish gain.

I can totally relate, carolyn! So many people cannot appreciate the very precious, special love that comes from adopting an older dog. All of our dogs are rescues. My Pearl was a puppy mill breeder, 7 years old when we adopted her two years ago. She had just had a litter (God knows how many babies she was forced to have). The shelter fostered her, got her started on housebreaking and socialization. She is an utter, complete joy and you should see that little yorkie linebacker take on both of her doggie brothers!

I know we won’t have her as long as we’d like, but every day is precious and we will anything she needs. She’s worth it all.

When we adopted Nickelby my Pilgrim was sicker than we knew (he died 6 months after we got Nickelby). People thought we were crazy to adopt but I trusted my heart and my gut. I saw his photo on the website and had to have him. As soon as Nickelby walked in the door, Pilgrim said, “Thank God I’m not the only dog (we’d lost two the two years before). Nickelby was his protector from Day One, watching if Pilgrim had any seizures and he’d run to get me. He wouldn’t leave his side. It was the most precious gift to give my beloved Pilgrim in his last months.

I just need some good TOD well wishes and a shot of strength to keep him good and quiet when he doesn’t want to be. Thanks.

So sorry amk. I’ve always admired Great Danes. Big dogs do not live as long as small ones, but I love my big dogs. We had a black lab that lived until he was 18 though. We weren’t positive he was a full bred, but we think so.

6 years ago our Maggie was initially diagnosed with meningitis adn the specialty vet said she definiely did not have disc problems, but we should just make sure she stayed quiet. Not easy to do. Anyway, 4 weeks later we took her to a different specialist who immediately informed us she had 2 ruptured discs in her neck. We went ahead with the surgery, not cheap, and informed her in no uncertain terms that she better last long enough for it to be worth it. At 15 1/2 she is still around, so she must have understood.

I know what you mean about keeping him quiet. Very hard. same thing with Maggie post surgery. Although, to be honest, she felt so miserable it wasn’t hard. Then, one day, out in theyard she jumped off a 4 foot high terrace to the patio, We held our breaths, but she was fine and that was when we knew she was going to be all right. The other way we knew she was getting better was her tail. When a beagle doesn’t feel well the tail drags. When she does, it curves up over her back.

When this problem first presented last March the ER vet and our regular vet were adamant about keeping him quiet. They wanted him in the crate except to go outside, and to do that as little as possible. I identified the signs a lot earlier this time and although we kept him quiet all last week I admit we were bad about the stairs. Lesson learned. In these initial days he won’t want to do much but he was already following me around this morning. We live in a bungalow so there are stairs. He loves to be independent. We’re the ones who need to be strong – it’s not easy.

No it isn’t. The stairs were the big issue with Maggie. We had to keep her downstairs, where the doors to the backyard are. However, all the actvitiy is upstairs, including what is for her the most important room in the house, the kitchen. We tried barricades but she is not dumb and was able to figure out how to get around them. We still think the original evt misdiagnosed heer. They ahd done an MRI and were adamant that there was not a disc issue. It just happened that that was the same time I had neck surgery and I had my neurosurgeon look at the MRI and he, although saying a dog’s anatomy was not his specialty, quickly saw a ruptured disc.

The way it was explained to me: if the disc in just inflamed (that’s where Nickelby is at) it may not show up on the MRI but once it’s ruptured, it shows up. My PIlgrim had a ruptured disc in his neck, too, and it showed up on the MRI. We have the most wonderful ER/specialist referral facility just a few blocks from us. They were a Godsend when my Kasper was attacked by the pit bull (they saved his life) and they were wonderful when we brought Nickelby in with the excruciating pain last March. They determined where the pain was (I thought it was the neck but it was further down on his back) and they were very clear about what the MRI would probably show.

There is no way Maggie had ruptured discs that didn’t show up on the MRI. She was misdiagnosed.

We’ve been without running water in the house for over a month. We had to haul it in and shower at the Rec. Center. We were also without sewer for a couple weeks. Not fun at all. I was tempted to sit in the County Courthouse all day just to use their bathrooms.

It was a corporate issue and the County differed to the Corporations interest. They thought they would get us to move, but we dug a well about 1300 feet deep and put in a septic system. But not without a knock-down drag out fight.

Yes it is and it’s standard operating procedure (SOP). I had the nerve to ask the District Court judge why and he almost gave me contempt of court. That’s two now that have threatened me with that. Idjjits.